Math-It
took Columbus 69 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean.† To help
students understand the length of time, cut out 69 ships.†
Number the ships from 1 to 69.† Tape a ship on a bulletin
board or across the blackboard every day.† On the 69th day,
have a celebration of some kind.† Some other math activities
that you can do with the students are:†† create
Columbus word problems using the ships; have students determine
how many days till the 69th day; write down the numbers that are
odd or even; count by 2's, 5's, 10's; review place value.

Writing: Read "The Log of Christopher Columbus-The
First Voyage" by Steve Lowe or any other journal/log book on
Christopher Columbus.† Explain to students that they will
make pretend they were on one of the ships and to keep a log of a
day in their life on the ship.† Students can choose the ship
and their job on that ship.† This assignment can consist of
one day or one week.

Writing II: Students make a list of things they would
take to on a long sea voyage.

Journal Time: Columbus was just one of many explorers
who was on a quest of discovery.† Ask students what they
would personally like to discover.

Health/Nutrition: Make a list of New World foods and
Old World foods.† Print them on index cards.† Make two
pockets out of construction paper.† Label one "New World
Foods" and the second "Old World Foods".† Have students place
each food in the correct pocket.† Other activities include
sorting by food groups, colors, etc; play a concentration game
using the flashcards.

Grammar (Adjectives):
Using the Health/Nutrition activity, have students pretend they are
Europeans or Native Americans and they have to tell their people
about the new foods they have discovered.† Students must
describe these new foods using describing words (adjectives).

Science: In this
activity, students will understand how sails were used to propel
ships through the ocean.† In a large plastic tub/container
filled with water, place a toy boat or self-made boat with a sail.†
Have students blow on the sail to propel the boat forward.†
Have students race their boats using their breath.† You can
also use fans to propel the boats forward.

Social Studies/Map
Skills: Show students a map of the world and review the purpose
of Columbus' voyage.† He wanted to go west to get to the Indies
but ended up landing in the Americas.† Have students draw a map
of what Europeans thought the world looked like in the 1400s.†
They should label the continents and oceans as well as adding a
compass rose.† Have students compare their map with current map
of the world.

Vocabulary/Word
Search: Click on the picture to download and print the Columbus
Day word search.

Globe:
Create a globe out of balloons
and paper mache. Paint all blue.† Then, using cut-outs of
continents, students trace and cut continents from green
construction paper and glue to the globe.† Cut out 3 little
ships and glue them in the Atlantic Ocean heading towards the
Americas.† Using yarn, chalk, or crayon, draw the route
Columbus took to get to the Americas.